Wink Martindale, Popular and Durable.

Wink Martindale passed away on Tuesday in Rancho Mirage, California. He was a radio personality who rose to fame on television as a stylish and friendly presenter of game shows such as "Gambit," "Tic-Tac-Dough," and "Debt" in the 1970s and 1980s. He was ninety-one.

His representative, Nashville Publicity Group, released a statement announcing his passing.

Mr. Martindale was a seasoned game show veteran who produced or hosted over 20 consecutive shows.

"What is This Song," his debut game show in 1964, pitted competitors against famous people to guess songs in exchange for cash rewards. Like many of his experiments, the show did not last long.

"Tic-Tac-Dough" blended trivia with the traditional puzzle game tic tac toe, while "Gambit" was based on the card game blackjack. The primary focus of "Debt" was the prize: if contestants correctly answered a series of questions, they would be able to pay off their credit card bills, auto payments, or student loan debt.

Mr. Martindale recorded seven albums and roughly 20 singles as a vocalist. He received a gold record, which is awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America to albums that sell 500,000 copies or more, for his 1959 spoken-voice narrative recording, "Deck of Cards," which sold over a million copies. He also appeared on the Ed Sullivan variety program as a result of "Deck of Cards," when he related the story of a young American soldier in North Africa who is detained and accused of playing cards during a church service.

James A. and Frances M. (Mitchell) Martindale welcomed Winston Conrad Martindale into the world on December 4, 1933, in Jackson. He enrolled at Memphis State College (now the University of Memphis) after high school graduation in 1951, when he got his first disc jockey job at a nearby station, earning $25 per week. He earned a degree in acting and speech.

He was cited as saying, "I believe that I was born with a desire to be a radio announcer." "I have always wanted to sit behind a microphone." Two paper cups fastened to a string served as my first "mic." Before long, I was seated behind the actual thing.

Later, he rose to WHBQ in Memphis, a major Southern station, where he famously assisted in getting an on-air interview with Elvis Presley in 1954 following the publication of Presley's debut album, "That is All Right," by phoning his mother. (The station's D.J., Dewey Phillips, conducted the actual interview.)

In 1959, Mr. Martindale relocated to Los Angeles, where he was interviewed by a number of radio stations, including KMPC, the "Station of the Stars," which was owned by actor and "singing cowboy" Gene Autry. Mr. Martindale was the station's noon personality for 12 years beginning in 1971, despite having discovered his career in television as a game show host.

He married Madelyn Leech in 1954, but they divorced in 1971. Lisa, Lyn, Laura, and Lyn were their four children.

At the age of 17, he started working as a disc jockey at WPLI in his hometown, making $25 per week.

Jackson's only other station, WDXI, hired him away for double the pay when he moved to WTJS. While attending Memphis State, he went on to host mornings at WHBQ in Memphis. When he graduated in 1957, he was married and had two daughters.

On July 8, 1954, WHBQ aired the first Presley song, "That is All Right," when Martindale was in the studio but not working on-air that evening.

Presley had been given an early break by fellow DJ Dewey Phillips, who Martindale approached to ask him and Presley to do a joint interview on Martindale's TV show "Top Ten Dance Party" in 1956. Presley consented to the appearance as he was already a well-known figure.

Over the years, Martindale and Presley kept in touch, and in 1959, while Presley was serving in the Army in Germany, he conducted a transatlantic telephone interview with him. Sandy, Martindale's second wife, met Presley on the set of "G.I. Blues" in 1960 and they had a brief romance.

Martindale relocated to Los Angeles in 1959 to host a KHJ morning show. His cover of "Deck of Cards," which sold over a million copies, peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year. He told the religiously charged spoken word wartime tale on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

"I could have simply said, 'This is so simple! "Everyone wants to buy my record when I come out here, get on the radio and TV, and make it!" he wrote. "Even if I had such thoughts, they would quickly fade. I eventually discovered that what had occurred to me was quite unusual.

He went to KRLA's morning show a year later, then in 1962, he went to KFWB. Two different stints at KMPC, owned by actor Gene Autry, were among his numerous other radio appearances.

From 1964 to 1965, he hosted NBC's "What is This Song?" as Win Martindale, his first network hosting position.

Later, he presented "Dream Girl '67" and "How is Your Mother-in-Law?" on ABC, both of which were produced by Chuck Barris. The latter was gone after just 13 weeks.

"I joked that it went by so quickly that it felt like thirteen minutes!" It was the worst show Martindale had ever done, he wrote.

Later, from 1980 to 1981, Martindale hosted a revival of "Gambit" in Las Vegas.